Annaamalai (2011 Tamil anime series)
Annaamalai is a 26-episode Indian Tamil-language anime adaptation of Nichijou. Directed by Suresh Krissna and produced by Kavithalayaa Productions, it was broadcast in India between April and September 2011, after a live-action pilot TV movie was released in March. Plot Annaamalai follows the everyday lives of various people in the town of Bengaluru, mainly focusing on the energetic Yūko Aioi, the bright and cheerful Mio Naganohara, the quiet and deadpan Mai Minakami, the anxious robot Nano Shinonome, her eight-year-old creator the Professor, and a talking cat named Sakamoto, along with an ensemble cast of characters. Random and/or outlandish events regularly occur throughout the series, mainly through the mundane situations each character undergoes. In the anime series, Nano receives the most prominent story arc out of all the characters; the first half of Annaamalai pertains to her desire to become a student in high school, while the second half deals with her own fear of being revealed to be an android while at school with Yūko, Mio, and Mai. Vignettes which are mostly unrelated to the main focus of the series are placed throughout each episode, some of them adapted from Arawi's manga Helvetica Standard. Characters Yūko Aioi (யுயுகோ ஏஓயி Yuyukō ē'ōyi; 相生 祐子 Aioi Yūko) Voiced by: Kushboo (Tamil) and Mariko Honda (Japanese) Yūko is an energetic high school girl with short brown hair. Her nickname is Yukko (யுகோ; ゆっこ). Because she is often too lazy to do her own homework, she always copies from either Mio or Mai instead. Although she is a generally an easygoing person, her mood changes instantly when she is insulted. She sometimes greets her friends with "selamat pagi" (Indonesian/Malay for "good morning"). Mio Naganohara (மீஓ நாகநொஹரா Mī'ō nākanoharā; 長野原 みお Naganohara Mio) Voiced by: Dakshayini (Tamil) and Mai Aizawa (Japanese) Mio is a bright and cheerful girl, sporting light blue hair pulled into pigtails and held by two small wooden cubes (however, when at home or asleep, her hair is untied). She has a crush on Kōjirō Sasahara. At first glance, she appears quite ordinary in comparison to her friends Yūko and Mai but actually harbors a very short temper, prone to tantrums and acts of violence in order to avoid humiliation; even assaulting a police officer to keep her yaoi manuscript from being discovered. She often has to humor Yūko to make her happy. Being a talented artist, she occasionally draws homoerotic pictures of Kōjirō in her notebooks and, under a male pseudonym, has entered several erotic manga into contests that promise serialization to the winner. Near the end of the manga, Mio finally wins one of the contests she entered, though it is unknown whether or not she actually accepted the publisher's offer due to her paranoia about her art. Mai Minakami (மாய் மினகமி Māy miṉakami; 水上 麻衣 Minakami Mai) Voiced by: Manorama (Tamil) and Misuzu Togashi (Japanese) Mai is a quiet and intelligent girl who wears glasses. Before the events of the manga series, Mai had lived in Alaska before moving to Japan. She excels at a wide range of activities, including fishing, wood carving, and arm wrestling. Despite her serene and rather unemotional demeanor, she has a rather eccentric sense of humor, often frustrating her friends with her pranks. Her sometimes deadpan mannerisms often make people wonder what is going on in her head. She has two pet dogs named Oguri Cap and Pyon. Nano Shinonome (நானோ ஷினோனோம் Nāṉō ṣiṉōṉōm; 東雲 なの Shinonome Nano) Voiced by: Vaishnavi (Tamil) and Shizuka Furuya (Japanese) Nano is an android schoolgirl, built by the Professor. She worries about keeping her identity as a robot from other people, even though the large wind-up key on her back makes it quite obvious. Her limbs will sometimes fall apart, revealing items that the Professor installed into her system without her noticing, ranging from beam-firing weapons to Swiss rolls. She is the Professor's caretaker, and spends her days helping her and doing all the household chores. Professor (டாக்டர் Ṭākṭar; はかせ Hakase) Voiced by: Rekha (Tamil) and Hiromi Konno (Tamil) The Professor is an intelligent eight-year-old scientist. She built Nano herself, and often makes various adjustments to her, but adamantly refuses to remove the wind-up key on her back because she thinks it is cute. Her favorite animal is the shark. She does not go to school, since she already graduated, and instead spends her days playing around in the house. Despite her intelligence, she often acts like a spoiled eight-year-old girl most of the time, as she likes snacking, playing around, and sharks. She enjoys spending time with Nano's friends, particularly Yūko and Mai because she gives her shark-themed chocolates and drawings. She didn't like Mai at first because she let her dogs corner her and Sakamoto on the street, but warms up to her when Mai draws a shark for her. Sakamoto (சகமோடோ; 阪本) Voiced by: Rajinikanth (Tamil) and Minoru Shiraishi (Japanese) Sakamoto is a black cat. He wears a red scarf made by the Professor, which allows him to speak. He was originally named Taisho and was the pet of Kana Nakamura until he fell out of the window of her house, and he was found by Nano before mysteriously turning up at the Shinonome home. He decided to stay with Nano and the Professor because of Nakamura's constant unintentional neglect. In cat years, he is 20 years old, older than both Nano and the Professor, and tries to act like the adult of the house, but to his shame, he occasionally succumbs to his cat-like habits. A running-gag is his tendency to endure the Professor's comically horrific physical abuse, usually in the form of a childish booby-trap or the rope noose she uses to walk him. Category:India Category:Tamil Category:Anime Category:TV Shows Category:TV Series